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A bitter tragicomedy about the sad fate of the physically disabled, about obligatory optimism, and about how sometimes things just don't work. The main character is confined to a wheelchair after a car accident and although he doesn't suffer financially thanks to insurance, he is full of bitterness and hatred toward his surroundings. His desperate partner decides to break his lethargy and self-pity with the help of a therapist and her group of patients and bring him back to life. However, throughout the movie, it seems that Geirr rather breaks the painstakingly built cohesion of the group, which actually isn't that cohesive, and beneath its surface, there are smoldering fires and a lot of negative emotions. I expected something in the style of As Good as It Gets with Jack Nicholson, a stylized spectacle full of black humor, but the level of inappropriateness and unfiltered pain caught me off guard. Several scenes are truly powerful, and the film fairly reflects the hopeless situation of the disabled. On the other hand, compared to the course of the film, its culmination is somewhat forcibly reconciliatory. Overall impression: 85%. Although humor appears in several moments, it is the darkest, purely gallows variant.

Unlike the artificial world of Shortbus, Carnal Knowledge explores sexuality that is not detached from emotional and societal bonds. The film tells the story of two friends who have different relationships with sex and women. One of them longs for true love and family life, while the other, played effortlessly by Jack Nicholson, has a purely consumeristic relationship with sex and women. Despite their different ideals and desires, both ultimately realize disappointment in their own ways. The film is set in the successful American middle-class environment and through its characters, it depicts both America in the 70s, which underwent a successful sexual revolution, and the development of both characters during adolescence and midlife crisis. I must say that if a person chooses a man like lawyer Jack Nicholson as a friend, they don't need any enemies in life anymore... Overall impression: 80%. A psychological drama the way it should be.

RKO 281 is a film made for film fans who are interested in film history. The history of the making of Citizen Kane is generally known, and although the film's creators have made some adjustments and dramatizations, the film generally sticks to known facts and truthfully depicts the atmosphere and conflict during the production of the film. It is one of the many films about the fight for freedom of speech and the defense of democratic principles against the power of money, clientelism, and social connections. One of the film's strengths is its excellent cast, led by Liev Schreiber - perhaps his best performance for me so far. John Malkovich and Roy Scheider also support him skillfully as the screenwriter and producer, respectively, but in general, there are no bad performances in the film. The script is decent, and within the constraints of a television film, the set design is also decent. Overall impression: 90%. A strength of the drama is the ambiguity of the film characters - Welles is portrayed as a passionate artist with a large ego who does not care about his surroundings. He does not hesitate to deny his colleague and friend's contribution to their joint work for his success...

The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean is not a film for everyone due to its somewhat sleepy pace and lack of exciting twists. The main role in Giuseppe Tornatore's film is played by the camera, music, and performances, which together create a special atmosphere surrounding the life fate of a brilliant pianist, whose world is now only known through the legend told by his only friend. A man who emerged as an abandoned baby on a giant ocean liner to discover his exceptional musical gift and spent his whole life as a member of the ship's orchestra, never setting foot on dry land. Fear of the endless unknown world, which brings countless risks, prevents him from doing so. It is a film about the power of friendship, music, and the human loneliness that comes from a unique position. The film has two peak scenes, one being a poetic ride on a released piano through the ship's spaces, and the other a duel between two top pianists on the "edge of keys." An emotional and poetic work. Overall impression: 90%.

In the reviews for The Last Legion, it is very clear what film fans consider most essential in the fantasy genre - the visual spectacle. The Last Legion is a cheaper affair, but that personally doesn't bother me. The problem lies with the script, which recycles motifs that have been seen many times before and dully uses some typical genre clichés. This is a case of so-called historical fantasy, which tries to place its story in a specific historical era and uses specific historical characters, unfortunately in a very superficial way. The only bright spot is the A-list actors, who may have ended up in this film more by mistake, but who deliver a decent standard and, truth be told, easily outshine many well-known fantasy characters from the past (such as Conan). However, when a slim, beautiful Indian warrior appears, effortlessly taking down twelve heavily armed brutes who are experienced warriors, while also suggesting she has had time to knit a sweater, I can only shrug and say that this kind of fairy tale simply is not for me. Overall impression: 35%.

The Last Metro is commercially the most successful Truffaut film popular with audiences, where a strong cast led by the mature and highly charming Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu, who was then full of energy, charismatic, and still new to the scene. Despite the undeniable directorial mastery and interesting occupation theme, I cannot give it a full rating because some motifs in the film simply didn't resonate with me. The functional part is the one that shows the world of the Paris theater, actors, and other theater personnel, while also depicting a love triangle between the main characters, where the husband, hiding from repression, helplessly watches the developing love affair between his wife and her acting partner. On the other hand, the broader depiction of the historical era of occupied France is not very functional, when two hundred policemen are searching for the main character and fail to realize that he is hiding in the basement of his theater. After getting leads of Steiner's presence in Paris, the Gestapo falls for the most banal trick at a time when executions and deportations were running rampant, and a wide network of informants and the Gestapo apparatus were doing efficient work. This trivialization and simplification of such a difficult period could be excused in a comedy, but not in a film of this genre. The most interesting moments are when the theater performances on the stage blend with the real lives of the film characters. A playful and professionally well-shot film. Overall impression: 85%.

While film critics may prioritize other pieces of Woody Allen's work, for me, Love and Death holds the top spot. It's a matter of the heart because Allen parodies literature and films that I intimately know and grew up with. This film will be appreciated by those who have read "War and Peace" because poor old Leo Tolstoy gets the most flak, but in general, anyone who has read classic and thick romantic novels by 19th-century authors and seen historical epics from the 1960s will enjoy it. Allen is at the peak of his game here, literally brimming with humor in the style of college pranks and biting intellectual sarcasm. The film also has a pleasantly short duration. Overall impression: 95%.

The Last Picture Show is a movie about the difficult period of adolescence, the creation of one's value system, the loss of innocence, the first sexual experiences (which may not be the same thing), the loss of illusions, and the transformations of a small Texas town during the economic and technological boom of the early 1950s. The post-war prosperity, further compounded by oil fever, along with the arrival of television as the main source of entertainment, led to greater individualization of society and a lifestyle change, symbolized by the decline of the local movie theater and entertainment club. In The Last Picture Show, the story is not important (on the contrary, it is deliberately suppressed), but rather more important is the overall atmosphere supported by maximum meticulousness, with which the filmmakers captured the smallest details, the consistency with which they dedicated themselves to the dialogue or the complexity of the natures of the individual characters. In the movie, not much actually happens, but you can feel the dramas that take place outside the camera's view and the conflicts that collide in the minds of the characters. I consider this film to be an exceptionally successful black-and-white retro with excellent performances and a sense of authenticity rarely seen in the film industry. In the case of such films, I am often irritated by lofty phrases, unhistorical thinking, artificial plot twists, or catering to the taste of the mass audience. Here, I simply have nothing to criticize. The character's actions are sometimes impulsive and often go against what I believe in, but they correspond to the complexity of the time and the characters, which were not crafted by a routine screenwriter. The character portrayed by Cybill Shepherd is worth mentioning, where the young actress demonstrated not only her charms but also refined character acting and managed to transform from a naive romantic girl into a dangerous and manipulative vixen. Overall impression: 95%.

Julio Medem has incredible luck. Usually, his films catch me in an exceptionally positive mood, which makes me give them a greater number of stars than they deserve. Chaotic Ana, according to the standards I commonly apply to cinema, deserves to be discarded, and I, an embarrassing softie, gave it one star, probably out of inappropriate conformism. Lovers of the Arctic Circle is much better off, and I really like Medem's film language and choice of actors, but the way he handles his characters, and all those unbelievable coincidences, missed encounters, all those constructs that accumulated in the screenplay, sometimes slip into self-parody. This film was not supposed to be a comedy and yet titles like The Poacher's Foster Daughter or Noble Millionaire or Lemonade Joe often come to mind when watching it. It simply cannot be taken seriously and my three stars are rather for what the film could be if Medem wasn't so self-centered. Overall impression: 50%.

In the opening minutes, it feels like a very raw, unfiltered ride through the underground of a city, a road movie among alcohol-soaked human wrecks, impoverished homeless people, and desperate individuals who survive from day to day. I expected to see a strong realistic social study of people on the outskirts of the system or completely beyond its reach. However, the meager existence named Carax quickly veers toward the shining neon lights, which create a contrast with the filthy homeless people, and the viewer's gaze slides towards the rocket geysers fired during the generously conceived city celebrations. Among their reflections on the surface of the Seine, Carax's characters zigzag while water skiing. Good Lord, what does this have to do with the life reality of Parisian homeless people?! Even those at the bottom of the social ladder are entitled to love and undoubtedly experience it, but it is much harsher. In their world, there is no room for melodrama and beautifully shot poetic images. Carax envisions the love of his characters from a middle-class perspective, effectively lacking any significant features typical of kitschy melodramas. The loving couple is separated by a social abyss, the surroundings don't wish them well, and a serious incurable disease afflicts the girl, whom a miraculous treatment will save from the precipice at the last minute. If The Lovers on the Bridge is interesting in any way, then it is through the amazing transformation that Juliette Binoche undergoes. From a charming beauty, she becomes a burnt-out and embittered wreck, in whom no one would look for one of the most sympathetic actresses around. It is said that when Audrey Hepburn was dressed in an unattractive florist's costume in My Fair Lady, she cried from humiliation. Binoche clearly has no problem with that, and her goal is to sell herself as a great actress, not as a star. Carax offers another plus - impressive shots of Parisian streets, especially the Pont-Neuf bridge. The coldness of the stone blocks, and the images of majestic statues, will certainly leave their mark on the viewer. For these mentioned merits, Carax ultimately receives an overall impression of 55% of the from me, but at the same time, I take away the conviction that Carax is too manneristic a creator for my taste, and in the future, I will tend to avoid his work. By the way, one of his vices is also megalomania because those 130 million francs could have been much more effectively and sensibly invested. If I were a producer, Carax's image would terrify me in the most horrible dreams. The most expensive French film should belong to a different genre and look a little different...